It's cold out.

It's good to have you back. I missed you for a really long time.

Do you remember back then?

When you and Mom used to tease me for being small?

I kinda always hoped you remembered little stuff like that. I did.

You guys were silly.

Thanks for bringing me here. It's so empty. It's just you and me.

Let's get something from the gumball machine. It's one quarter.

Oh, it's two.

Do you want one too?

It's sweet.

Let's go see the books next. And then the incense shop, and the store where you bought me those cool bracelets with the snarky phrases on them. You spent your money on me, even though…

Thanks. I really love spending time with you.

I never thought I'd care so much about my family.

Stupid.

You're a terrible girl. Selfish. You don't have any love in you at all. You must have gotten fucked up somewhere along the way. You don't love anyone, and you know that. And you aren't even sad about that. Probably don't even care that you don't care, do you?

What happened to me to make me like that? Shouldn't I know? Can I even fix it? Did something even happen at all? Or am I just like that?

But I guess that's wrong. Because I care about you. Thanks for being there for me instead.

Earlier, I saw him here, but now it's different. I guess it makes sense.

Let's pick up all this wood that fell over. We can take it to the river. I guess I'll go first.

It's cold!

"Juno?"

The teen sat up in bed immediately, realizing the situation she'd woken up to. She attempted to make her voice sound like this wasn't the first time it had been used today.

"Yea?" Well, it kinda worked.

"Are you ready? It's 7 am."

"Yea, one second. I'm getting dressed." She stepped out of bed as she said this, throwing off her pajamas and trying to quietly yet quickly snatch a pair of jeans and a sweater from her dresser. She pulled the jeans on and threw the sweater over her head, then quickly brushed at her hair- only the parts that really needed it.

She looked...presentable enough.

She opened the door to see Miss Rena, who had been looking off down the hall at something. When she turned to Juno she gave a warm smile.

"Good morning sleepyhead." She said, smirking a little.

Juno replied simply with "Good morning."

"Did you just wake up?"

"No." She said, calmly.

"Ah, I see. That's good." Then Rena pretended to wipe something from her lower lip, and Juno realized she was pointing out something about the teen's face. She tried to casually wipe away the dried spit from her cheek.

"Well, you'll officially be put into the system today! Excited?"

"Uh...Yeah!"

Rena was not convinced, which was valid, as Juno was lying.

She went ahead and started walking the teen towards the elevator.

"I'm sorry again for your rough introduction to us. That was an emergency situation with very bad timing, and we were desperate. And you did great." Rena said, sincerely. Her brow was furrowed with worry, like she knew Juno would be doubtful of her words.

(Which she was.)

"Thank you.." Juno said quietly. Her fingers gently rubbed together, brushing over her thumbnail and rubbing over her knuckle.

At the elevator, Rena pressed a number Juno instantly forgot upon stepping out. This facility was too big for her.

Rena took her to a few different office rooms, going through the more boring, registrative parts of NERV. Juno created an account in the system, got an official identification number, had her picture taken, and was given an official ID card as well.

Then, they went back up to the floor just below ground, where the EVAs launched, and where Marina and the other EVA scientists were stationed. Juno recognized the way there, and wondered (nervously) what was in store for her back here.

Rena led her just past the lab and into a smaller side-room full of closets, glass display cases, flat counters, and other large storage bureaus.

This was different, and therefore scary. Or, if not including the EVAs, maybe better?

Luckily, it at the very least included Marina.

"Oh, hello Juno!" The doctor greeted, smiling. She stood by one of the counter spaces with a roll of tape measure and a notepad. A strange fabric was set out to the side, bright white and glossy like latex.

Juno smiled, waving back. Rena walked her over.

"Today, you're going to be sized for your pilot suit!" Rena said excitedly, putting her hands together.

Marina chuckled. "It's not as fun as she's making it sound. You just gotta stand there while I take your measurements."

Rena scoffed at her. "C'mon, you know it's fun to see the kids get their suits for the first time. It makes it official! And everyone gets a suit especially for them."

"You just like color coding people." Marina said, motioning for Juno to step forward.

"I do not!"

Juno smiled shyly, trying not to laugh. Marina rolled her eyes with a smile.

"You mind taking your shirt off for me dear? I'm afraid you have to be nude for the measurements to be accurate." Right after saying this, she went back to having her attention on teasing Rena.

Juno suspected the women knew it was uncomfortable, and were trying to make it as casual as possible, with Rena's protests the lighthearted distraction behind it all in addition. Juno liked that. They were both considerate, both in on it.

But as she took her shirt and bra off, she wondered just how many teens had gone through the process for them to have developed this system?

Marina barely looked at her as she measured around the teen's shoulders. She kept eyeing back at Rena, sticking her tongue out. The two were obviously close.

After a quick glance at the number, Marina noted it and then measured her chest and waist. She let Juno put her shirt back on, then gestured to her pants.

Honestly, she would have preferred being naked all at once. Less of the awkward act of undressing in front of others, and both halves of her got seen naked either way. Now it was just disjointed. Maybe they hadn't streamlined this system as much as she thought.

After a measurement of her hips and legs, her overall height, and some other more miniscule measurements, they gave her the O.K. to get dressed again.

As she pulled on her jeans, Marina gathered up her notepad and began putting her measuring tools away. Rena giggled as she hopped over to the material, then looked at Juno with mischievous squinted eyes. Marina rolled her own, but she was smiling.

Juno quirked her head.

Rena nodded, seemingly having come to a decision, and turned around to open a closet along the back wall. Marina came back around to stand next to her, clipboard and notes in hand.

"Blue, pink, red…what's next, I wonder." The doctor mused.

Rena finally stopped pushing things around and emerged presenting some of the same latex fabric as the white set-out before them, though this fabric was a royal purple.

"What do you think, Juno? I think it fits you!"

Dr. Marina chuckled. "Well well, looks like you got," she paused, doing jazz hands with the hand she had available, "purple."

"Do you mean…for my pilot suit?"

"Yes! White with purple accents. I think it fits, don't you? If you don't like it though, we can do a different one."

"No, purple's fine actually…" She said, smiling a little.

Purple wasn't her favorite color, green was, but she knew she didn't look good in green. Nor did it fit her. Purple was perfect.

Rena wiggled her eyebrows at Marina. "See? Told you. I have a way with them."

Marina rolled her eyes again. "She insists that she can guess anyone's best color. She loves color coding the pilots. Sometimes us, too."

"Dr. Marina," Rena interjected, "is Orange."

"I think I'm more of a yellow person myself."

Juno smiled at the two of them and their antics. They continued a bit more as they cleaned up and got her suit organized to go to the tailor. Juno realized just how young the two of them really were. Barely in their 30's for Rena, and probably only a bit older for Dr. Marina. Maybe if they could keep such a lighthearted spirit to themselves here, then it wasn't too bad.

Or maybe they're just like this to try and distract themselves from what goes on here.

Rena eventually got Juno's attention again, and the three of them headed out of the room. When the door closed behind them, Dr. Marina waved them a little goodbye.

"I have to get back to work. Where are you two headed to next?"

Juno looked up at Miss Rena. "I'm taking Juno here to meet Carmen." She said, putting an arm around the teen's shoulders and pulling her close.

Dr. Marina chuckled. "You have fun with that. Don't let her bully you, Juno. She's a character."

Well, that wasn't promising.

"Oh, hush! Carmen's fine. Besides, she doesn't have many friends. I think it'll be good to have someone her age around for once."

At that point, she was speaking more to Juno than anyone, as Dr. Marina had already began heading off in the other direction.

"How old is she?" Juno asked.

"She's 15, so just about a couple years younger than you."

Juno just nodded in response. She wanted to ask more about what the girl was like, but she didn't want to sound rude. She just had apprehensions due to the fact that she was apparently…a little more than most people could handle. And Juno herself couldn't even handle most normal people. Juno didn't have many friends either, but that was more of her own volition.

Putting together a fucked-up teen too quiet to make friends with a hyperactive one too brash to keep any did not seem like the solution for either one of them. They were opposite problems that would only clash with one another.

Before Juno realized it they were in the elevator. Rena pressed floor 4, and this time actually explained where they were going.

"The fourth floor is where the training area is. Pilots learn basic combat and strategies to pilot the EVA. Carmen spends a lot of time here."

"Does she…like fighting?"

"Yes. Very much so. I don't think she's a violent person or anything, she just…I think she just likes to be good at what she does."

Juno nodded.

The elevator stopped and the two of them exited onto a wide open lobby area. To the left was glass encasing what was part of the EVA bay- she could see the Unit-01's feet and ankles behind the glass. Straight ahead and extending to the right was a large open studio space, almost like a dance studio, but instead it was filled with combat equipment. Boxing gloves, wooden swords, paintball guns, helmets, protective wear, blindfolds even. In the middle of the room, through the glass windows, Juno could see a girl with frizzy, coarse, copper-red hair. She was swinging aggressively at a couple of staff in white uniforms.

"Oh, there's Carmen!" Rena pointed out. They walked around the corner of the studio and quietly stepped through the glass doors, waiting just inside. Now Juno could see her better.

Her hair was definitely her most noticeable feature, not only because of its color, but for its condition. It was greasy, and not well taken care of, but she had it pulled back for the time being. Her face was a rounded square, with blunt rounded features. She had freckles and a few moles. Her eyebrows were thick. And when she glanced at Juno shortly after the two walked in, she saw that her eyes were dark brown- almost black at first glance, with no pupil easily visible.

She gave off the impression of the kind of kid most people avoided in elementary school, if not straight up bullied. The weird kid. The poor kid. The one that always smelled a little weird.

At one point, Juno could have related.

Carmen seemed to get frustrated as the two opponents continually blocked her hits, and eventually stomped a bit and awkwardly threw her thick frame at the first one, knocking them to the ground. Then she kicked the feet out from below the other one, not gracefully, but effectively. She huffed, smiled, and nodded her head.

Rena took the opportunity to wave at her. The girl brightened, waving back excitedly, though her brows were still furrowed.

The two got up as Carmen threw off her gloves, tossing them thoughtlessly behind her as she ran. She made it over to the two of them with a big grin.

"Hey, Carmen! How was your visit home?" Rena asked.

"Ugh, it sucked. I'm just glad to be back here."

Rena smiled, though it was obviously a nervous one. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you still love it here. I wish your time at home was better, though!"

Carmen's face faded a little and she looked away, apparently uninterested. Then she looked to Juno.

"Who's that?" She said, looking right at the teen, but apparently addressing Miss Rena.

"This is Juno! She's our new pilot, and she's about your age!"

Carmen's eyes widened a bit, intrigued. "How old are you?"

"I'm 17."

"Oh, so just a couple years older than me. I'm 15."

Juno just…nodded.

"Juno actually piloted her EVA for the first time yesterday. She hasn't even been trained yet, but we had an emergency, as you've probably heard."

"What? No, no one told me! What happened!?" She looked frantically between the two of them, apparently offended.

"Juno, why don't you tell her?"

Juno looked up at Rena with bugged eyes. Her? She was terrible at telling stories. And she wasn't quite sure what had happened herself. She just lived it.

"Uh…" She started.

"Well, an angel attacked but there weren't any pilots here to fight it, so they had me do it…I didn't really know what I was doing but uh…I did do it, I think."

Carmen stared. "..."

Then she looked at Rena. "Well you could have called me!"

"Carmen, even if we did call you, you wouldn't have made it here in time."

"Well what about-"

At that, Rena stiffly pulled a "shh" motion to her lips, eyes wide. Carmen blinked. "What!?"

"Jack was in the infirmary, remember?"

"Jack…? Oh. Aww, still? I thought he'd be better by now."

"No, he was hurt pretty badly last time. I think he is up and moving again though." Rena added, trying to lighten the mood.

Juno watched the interaction with bated glances. Was Jack…

'Jack,'

That boy she saw from before?

"Have you met Jack yet?" Carmen suddenly asked, large eyes right on Juno. Juno blinked.

"Uh, no, I haven't."

Rena seemed to be getting nervous. "We don't want to disturb him while he's resting. Besides, Juno just got here. You're actually the first pilot she's met!"

"Well. There's only two of us."

Rena just tried to keep smiling.

"Carmen, have you eaten yet? I think Juno here needs some breakfast. You two could get to know each other a little."

"Ugh, I'm starving!"

Rena chuckled. "Alright. I'll let you show her to the cafeteria then." She said, patting Carmen on the shoulder. She turned to Juno.

"I have to get back to work myself. Carmen will show you around. Try to be back in your room by 3, I have another appointment for you then."

Juno nodded, but on the inside she was getting eaten up by nerves. She could already tell Carmen wasn't her usual choice of companions.

Miss Rena walked off, waving to the both of them, and then the two of them were left alone, save for the fighting staff behind them cleaning up Carmen's mess.

The shorter of the two looked up at Juno and pursed her lips.

"You're quiet."

"Uh…Yea. I don't talk a lot."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"Not really."

"Huh. You must be boring."

Juno was a little taken aback, but not necessarily offended. To be fair, she was kind of right. But damn.

"I don't have any friends either, except for Sss-" She groaned. "'Cept for Jack. But he isn't around a lot."

Carmen started walking, and Juno had no choice but to awkwardly follow.

"Jack's the other pilot, right?"

Carmen nodded. "Uh-huh. He's like, twenty-something. So he's like an adult. But he's still cool."

Juno nodded slowly. They reached the elevator, and Carmen pressed 5.

"Five is the cafeteria floor, by the way."

"Good to know."

They rode the elevator in mostly silence, until Carmen started up another conversation.

"I'm the best pilot here."

Juno looked over at the sudden insertion.

"Oh."

"I've been here the longest aside from Jack."

"How long is that?"

"Three years."

"I see.

…How long has, uh, Jack been here?"

Carmen shrugged. Then she looked at Juno, face sour.

"I care more about being a pilot than I do about having friends. Don't try to get better than me. 'Cause you won't."

The dark haired teen shifted a little, uncomfortable. The elevator dinged.

Carmen swaggered out, and Juno followed a bit more distant than before, unsure what to make of the situation. At the very least, she was being fed.

Carmen went up to a cafeteria line of workers serving waffles, pancakes, eggs, and more. She took a plate of pancakes and sausage and far too much syrup to a table in the back of the cafeteria and began to eat. She wasn't really acknowledging Juno anymore.

The teen got some scrambled eggs and fruit and sat at the table nearest to her. Carmen was across the cafeteria, chowing down with a grimace.

Juno poked at her eggs and pondered. She felt obligated to listen to Miss Rena and sit with the other kid, but on the other hand, she absolutely did not want to at all. Aside from disliking other kids in general, she seemed to be disliked by this one already. She could tell Carmen saw her as a rival, someone invading her space. Probably jealous, at least preemptively so. Then again, she'd likely have to be working around Carmen a lot from now on. Probably training with her as well. And whether Juno herself needed friends or not, which she would deny, this girl did seem to need them, no matter what she said otherwise. And she most likely had some kind of behavioral disorder, what with her awkward way of speaking and her unhygienic appearance. She almost wanted to pity the other. Well, truly, she already did a bit.

But she was really questioning her dedication to good samaritan friendship causes at the moment.

Later, after she'd eaten at least most of her breakfast, she took her tray to the trash cans and discarded the leftovers. When she turned around, she caught an unexpected sight.

There was a figure sitting at the table next to Carmen. Taller, and clearly older, with whitish-blue hair just past their ears. They were wearing a white wooden mask that covered the entirety of their face, with only a bit of red pattern indicating anything like a face. It looked just like the person she'd seen in the floors of NERV the day of the EVA fight.

Juno squinted, moving closer. She sat down at her table again, though this time she kept watch on the pair, as inconspicuously as she could.

She couldn't tell what they were talking about entirely, but she heard keywords like "new pilot" and "mom" and "name." The figure seemed much more reserved than the redhead, but they seemed fond of each other. At some point Carmen turned around and pointed right at her.

Juno blinked, quickly looking away. If she still had her food she'd be pretending to eat it.

She didn't look back after that. She pulled out her phone and scrolled mindlessly on social media, trying to pass the time. She wanted to go back to her room and wait until Rena picked her up again, but if she left now it'd look obvious.

She'd been scrolling for a while when she decided to commit and stay a bit. She slipped in some earbuds, put on some moody alternative music, and kicked her legs up on one of the chairs under the table.

Maybe ten minutes had passed when she thought she heard a voice. She looked to each side of her and saw nothing. Juno returned to her phone when someone ever-so-lightly touched her shoulder.

She turned around, taking out her headphones, and faced the figure she'd just seen with Carmen. His face was indeed masked, and his bluish-white hair hung in fluffy, somewhat messy waves around it. He was in a very simple white t-shirt and dark pants, with a nameless green sweater over top. He waved mildly despite her being right in front of him. Bandages peeked out from under his sleeves.

"Oh, sorry," Juno said, "I didn't realize you were there…"

They shook their head. "No, no, sorry to bother you." His voice was a little raspy, and quiet. It gave her a weird feeling.

"I didn't want to be rude, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Jack." He said, holding out a pale and wrinkled hand.

Juno took it. It was cold. "Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Juno."

So this was the strange Jack she'd been hearing so much about. She didn't have any preconceptions about what he was like, really, but somehow he still managed to defy her expectations of what he'd be like. Though the one thread that still felt right about her previous experiences was his mysteriousness. Or suspiciousness, maybe.

But she didn't feel right calling him suspicious. She felt a good vibe from him, the same way she did with Marina. She could feel herself starting to like him already as they began to speak.

"Juno…What a pretty name! It's nice to meet you too. I'm the oldest pilot here, so…I know you probably don't wanna be friends the same way you might with Carmen, but please let me know if you ever need anything."

Juno smiled crookedly. "...Thanks. I will." And she meant it, too. She'd much prefer to befriend him over Carmen anyway, regardless of the 10 year-age gap.

He nodded, then looked around almost cautiously, and waved goodbye before walking off.

Juno watched him disappear into yet another hallway she wasn't familiar with. He walked a bit crooked.

Turning back, she was just about to put her headphones back in when a mess of red hair caught her attention. Carmen was staring at her from next to the table.

"Hey. Jack said I should try to be nicer to people and try to make some more friends. Kinda like Rena was saying."

Juno was expecting more than that, perhaps a sorry for being mean earlier, but the girl had stopped talking, so Juno cleared her throat.

"Oh, uh, yeah…I'd love to be friends." Juno said.

Carmen looked off, nodded a little, then looked around.

"Wanna see my room?" She said.

Juno blinked.

"Uh, sure!" She pocketed her earbuds and stood up. Carmen started walking away immediately, and the taller girl jogged a bit to catch up.

Yet another day of agreeing to things she'd prefer not to in the name of an aversion to the word, 'No.'

A/N: school started back up so uploads may be slower, but knowing my strange bolt of lightning inspiration strikes, the upload schedule might not change at all.

then again there really is no schedule since i do this for fun.

now including an experimental opening! i experiment as an artist, so i thought i'd play around and do some experimental stream of consciousness writing for Juno's dream sequence too. let me know your thoughts. if you leave a review i'll send u $1 (lie, possibly)